Opinion: Being a public servant is not for the faint of heart

Those are the words of West Texas native and political consultant Thomas Graham, but it's a sentiment not far from the thoughts of many political observers.

"It takes a rare individual to run for public office because they are going to subject themselves, their families and their friends to all sorts of attacks, criticisms and innuendo - all for the sake of public service," said Graham, who has handled Republican Party rhetoric for a decade.

Texas Democratic Party chairwoman Molly Beth Malcolm wrote an opinion piece recently in which she said nasty politics, such as the hate-mongering tactics of the Free Enterprise Political Action Committee, scares potential candidates away from public office.

We know that acting Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff, a Republican from Mount Pleasant, decided not to run for the position officially because he didn't want to be part of the politics a statewide $10 million campaign requires.

Although it's not hard to understand his decision, it's one that almost no one - except maybe Democratic candidate John Sharp - was glad to see.

About as evenhanded and gentle as an effective politician may come, Ratliff was able to stoically command the respect of each of his 30 Senate colleagues through the 77th legislative session.

Ratliff instead opted to seek his hometown Senate district seat - one he has held for more than 12 years. But even in his primary campaign, he was taunted by controversial mailings from Free Enterprise Political Action Committee that supported his opponent and depicted Ratliff as a lawmaker who advocates a radical agenda.

Ratliff won the primary handily, but he also had a news conference to condemn the tactics as reminiscent of the Nazis and the Taliban.

Another well-respected lawmaker to get a dose of politicking is Republican Sen. Robert Duncan of Lubbock.

Once the session ended - and Duncan's bill to establish a low-level radioactive waste facility according to a federal agreement failed - former Congressman Kent Hance reportedly went to work, looking for a challenger to Duncan.

Hance apparently wasn't pleased with Duncan's version of the bill and offered the promise of campaign money to anyone who took the bait. Fortunately for West Texas, no one did.

Hance hasn't commented on the attempted coup.

So in some cases, intimidation and mudslinging don't fly. But if two senators who are about as close to Boy Scouts as you'll find in the Capitol can be attacked, what shot does the average person with a convicted cousin or crazy ex-wife have?

Graham said it has been his experience that generally good people will rise above the nastiness, answer the call to service and understand the attacks aren't personal.

He credits state Rep. David Swinford, a Republican from Dumas, for realizing years ago what seemed clever at the time, but relevant as ever now: The folks you want in office are those who've already weathered life's storms and are willing to apply that wisdom to public policy.

Those people - the kind who don't run for office to become someone because they already know who they are - possess the strength and fortitude to make great leaders.

So finally, in the words of former President Teddy Roosevelt: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Deon Daugherty is the Amarillo Globe-News' Austin bureau chief. She can be contacted at deondaugherty@hotmail.com or at (512) 482-9429. Her column appears on Fridays.